Earnings were hit as YPF set aside 1.2B pesos to cover a potential legal settlement after the company inherited a lawsuit from Repsol that alleges contamination of the Passaic River from dioxin and various pesticides.

SNP, which is already Argentina's fourth-leading oil producer, has no experience in unconventional oil in the country, but a potential partnership could entail YPF helping develop its conventional output while the Chinese company would invest alongside YPF to raise shale oil production.

YPF already has partnered with Chevron and Malaysia's Petronas to develop shale oil in Vaca Muerta, and has been courting international investors to boost unconventional energy output one of the world's top shale oil and gas prospects.

YPF says it is not dispatching trucks to half of the country, as the strike has lowered production by 6K bbl/day from its wells and its Lujan de Cuyo refinery, which produces 35% of the company’s total fuel sold in Argentina.

Malaysia's Petronas signs a $550M deal with Argentina’s YPF (YPF-3.2%) to develop the South American country’s vast shale resources, despite fears that falling oil prices could undermine the profitability of unconventional energy projects.

The joint venture follows earlier deals amounting to $2.8B with Chevron to develop Argentina's huge Vaca Muerta shale formation; it will be similar in structure to the Chevron deal, with Petronas providing most of the financing for the initial three-year pilot project that aims to drill 35 wells which, if successful, could lead to another $10B in investments.

Argentina's YPF and Chile's ENAP say they plan to invest an additional $200M to increase natural gas production off the southern tip of South America in an attempt to raise output to ~4M cm/day from the current 2.4M cm/day.

YPF and ENAP also extend the joint production deal beyond the existing Aug. 2016 expiration date, with the length of extension depending on negotiations between YPF and government officials.

Argentina's domestic price controls are shielding bondholders of state-run oil company YPF (YPF-0.7%) from the bear market in crude, as YPF’s $587M of notes due 2018 have returned 6.4% since oil prices began falling, the most among junk bonds of emerging market integrated oil producers which have lost an average of 20%.

U.S. oil prices “aren’t that relevant in Argentina, and in fact domestic prices are near their highest on record," says Fitch analyst Gabriela Curutchet.

YPF also is less exposed to global price fluctuations because it does not export crude and relies on the sale of refined products abroad for just a fraction of revenue.

Ecuador, OPEC’s smallest-producing member, has signed contracts with companies including Halliburton (NYSE:HAL), Schlumberger (NYSE:SLB), Sinopec (NYSE:SNP) and YPF for a combined $2.12B investment.

A joint venture between SLB and Tecpetrol will invest at least $702M in the block 12 oil concession, state-run Petroamazonas says; HAL will invest $579M in three concession blocks, and won a contract to boost output at fields in the block 58 concession with a minimum $240M investment.

The deals come as the government seeks to boost crude output to offset a 15% drop in the price of its Oriente crude in the last three months.

YPF says that while it has conducted meetings with Gazprom officials to analyze various possibilities for business and collaboration, neither a confidential deal nor agreement memorandum has been signed.

The ministry had said it received assurances from Gazprom's Alexei Miller in a meeting this week that a "confidential" $1B agreement had been reached with YPF to explore for and produce gas in Argentina.

Argentina's YPF (YPF-1.5%) and Malaysia's Petronas are negotiating a joint venture with Mexico's Pemex in a bid to become the first foreign oil companies to capitalize on Mexico’s energy reform, FT reports.

The story details a long friendship between YPF CEO Miguel Galuccio and Emilio Lozoya, the man modernizing Pemex, as the foundation behind the discussions.

Galuccio says the trio has the right skill set to make a big impact in mature or shallow-water fields: Petronas is an offshore expert with deep pockets, YPF’s bread and butter is to squeeze more from declining fields and it is also has shale skills, and Pemex is a shallow-water leader.

The country's disastrous two-term president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner stands to do value-seeking investors not one, but two good turns, writes Grant. Her poor governance has wrecked the economy, and by stepping down, she'll improve it (the next election is October 2015).

Perhaps looking ahead to 2015, the Argentine Merval Index has already had a major rally over the past year or so, but there's still plenty of upside. The country's domestic stock market capitalization of $55B represents just 17% of GDP vs. a regional average of 49%.

Kyle Bass is a fan of YPF, but Grant takes note of another name, natural gas delivery company Transportadora de Gas del Sur SA (NYSE:TGS). It's selling for an enterprise value 5x that of EBITDA vs. 6x for comparable companies in the region, but factoring in the potential profitability recovery makes the stock even cheaper.

Hayman Capital's Kyle Bass reveals he recently bought a large stake in YPF (YPF-0.5%), the Argentine oil company, as the best play on a new decade of economic growth in the South American country.

Bass tells CNBC he foresees $100B-$200B of foreign direct investment in Argentina's oil fields over the next 10 years, "so YPF serves as not only a proxy to Argentina's equity market, but as the real dominant player in an energy business that we expect will be transformed over the next five, 10 years."

He also rips "immoral" Elliott Management and other hedge funds that have invested in Argentine bonds and held out for full payment on their investments, saying they are punishing a country which can't afford not to access the international capital markets and harness its growth potential (NYSEARCA:ARGT).

State-run producer YPF is seen benefiting most from the new legislation, which should ease political tensions stemming from unclear rules governing the country’s shale boom and attract investors to areas such as Vaca Muerta, the huge shale formation where companies such as Chevron (NYSE:CVX), Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) and Exxon (NYSE:XOM) are drilling wells.

The new bill would allow energy companies that invest $250M over a five-year period to sell 20% of production in international markets without paying export taxes and to keep some export revenue outside the country for shale and conventional projects.

Occidental Petroleum’s (OXY+1.1%) chemical unit agrees to pay $190M to cover its liability for the cleanup of the Passaic River in northern New Jersey, state officials say.

OxyChem is the legal successor to Diamond Shamrock, which was found to have intentionally dumped industrial waste in the river for decades, according to the AG's office; if approved by a judge and state regulators, the OXY payment would mean New Jersey has recovered $355M for the work.

OxyChem says it will seek reimbursement from YPF subsidiary Maxus Energy, which OXY says is financially responsible for claims against OxyChem in the litigation.

The deal is believed to include an initial investment of more than $500M, and state-run YPF and Petronas could invest up to $9B over the next decade to develop the full potential of the La Amarga Chica field within Vaca Muerta.

The deal is expected to be structured similarly to a joint venture YPF signed last year with Chevron, which are developing the nearby Loma Campana field and has become the second biggest producer of unconventional oil outside North America